Grades Are Now a Joke: Let's Get Rid of Them

The standard grading system in America's colleges and universities has reached the point of uselessness, writes Daniel Pink in a Washington Post op-ed. Worse, the A-through-F system is actually defeating the purpose of helping young people learn, he argues. Pink runs through the history of grade inflation, referencing Goodhart's Law—"an adage named for British economist Charles Goodhart, which holds that when a measure becomes a target, it ceases being a good measure." Today, A's have become so common on college campuses, they are essentially meaningless. "For many students, the goal of school isn't to learn. It's to get an A."

Pink maintains that it's time to ditch this type of grading, which he points out is a relatively modern invention in education. He cites examples of alternatives: "At Hampshire College and Evergreen State College, professors provide narrative evaluations of student work rather than letter grades," he writes. The point of his essay isn't to provide specific solutions but to encourage educators to think creatively about all this. "If we're serious about preparing young people for the complexities of the 21st century, a radical shake-up of higher ed is in order. And what better place to begin than with A, B, C?" (Read the full essay.)